Elon Musk Admits He Got ‘Too Involved With Politics’: ‘I Got Carried Away, Frankly’

Elon Musk has admitted that he was too ambitious when it came to his political endeavors.

“I think I got a little too involved with politics,” the SpaceX CEO, 55, told The Economist in a wide-ranging interview for the publication’s The Insider video series.

The billionaire put a lot of money behind President Donald Trump in the 2024 U.S. presidential election, and after the 80-year-old came out victorious over former vice president Kamala Harris, it was announced that Musk would lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

DOGE was met with a lot of pushback and criticism after it led to job and funding cuts across the federal government.

It officially shut down operations on July 4 as scheduled, with a post on its official X account stating, “While the formal mission of DOGE has come to an end, the mission to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse will continue.”

Reflecting on his political involvement, Musk admitted, “I got carried away, frankly.”

“So the goal with the sort of DOGE stuff was to try to do something about the deficit, which is massive, where the interest payments exceed the amount of money spent on the Department of War,” Musk explained. “Basically, if you add up all the money spent on what is now the Department of War and intelligence in the U.S., that is smaller than the interest payments on the debt.”

“We need to take a close look at spending and make sure that money is being spent in sensible ways and that it is not wasted or spent on fraudulent activities,” Musk said. “And I got a lot of flak from this, obviously, but the people don’t understand just how simple it was for the DOGE team to approve payments.”

The Apprentice alum has had a hot-and-cold relationship with Musk throughout his tenure in the White House. Still, the Tesla CEO was among those who accompanied the president on his recent visit to China.